On Friday afternoon I tagged along with Princeton University
students on their research trip to Three Hill Shoals. Princeton University students are in Bermuda
studying marine biology under BIOS researcher, Dr. Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley,
and Princeton University professor, Dr. James Gould. Offered through the Princeton Department of
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Marine Biology course is an intensive 4-week
field course focused on marine ecology and coral reefs held annually at BIOS
during the month of June.
-See more at:
http://www.bios.edu/education/summer-courses/
The students were headed out into the field to study corals
and coral reef fish as part of their studies in coral community structure. Half of the students collected data by
snorkeling and the other half used scuba diving. On the way to the shoals I got a chance to
sit down and speak with two students, Lindsay and Sydney. Both sophomores at Princeton, Lindsay is a
biology major while Sydney is an economics major. They explained to me that both the snorkelers
and divers were identifying fish by using transect lines. This is a sampling method that uses transect
lines, in this case measuring tapes, to sample an area for species. Transect lines are placed in an area, and any
plant or animal that comes in contact with the line is then recorded. In this case, the transect lines were placed
on the reefs, and the fish that came in contact with the tape were then
recorded. The diving group also utilized
underwater cameras to record video footage of activity at the transect line so
the corals could later be identified back at the BIOS lab.
Once we were within 10 minutes of Three Hill Shoals, the
students began to get their gear on. Experienced
snorkelers and divers, everyone knew exactly what they were doing, and put
everything on in a very methodological manner.
The divers checked their dive partner’s gear and made sure everything
was ready. By the time we arrived at the
site, the wet suits were zipped, oxygen tanks had been strapped to their backs,
and the clipboards and transect tapes were in hand.
As the students jumped in, I was startled that their paper
and clipboards went in with them! I was so
impressed to learn that the paper for recording data was waterproof, and that students
could write while underwater! Immediately
after getting in the water, the students began to work. I joined the snorkelers and we swam to a
shallow reef. Paired off into teams, the
students carefully laid down their transects by swimming and dropping the
transect line along as they went. I
watched as they recorded their data, and then move their transect to another
area. After about 40 minutes of data
collection, the students returned to the boat.
Once their gear was put away, the students were given a few
minutes to jump back in for a leisurely swim.
We even got a
fun group shot!
Back aboard the boat, I spoke with some of the students
about their experiences at the BIOS station.
One told me that participating in the Princeton Marine Biology course at
BIOS was “worthwhile and not something you can experience in any other
place.” She explained that before they
went out on the trip, they memorized different fish and algae and said it was ”so
cool to see them in the ocean.” She is
leaning towards a career in research. I asked
if her time at BIOS had changed her career plans, and she explained that
because of the program she is now more interested in research, “I definitely
think the research side is very interesting.
I’ve never been in the field before, and I’m really loving it--especially
Walsingham Pond, Mangrove Bay, and Spittal Pond.”
I then chatted with Dr. Jim Gould who is a professor of
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a PhD in Animal Behavior and
Ethology. He specializes in animal
behavior, specifically bees, and is known for proving that bees communicate
through dances. Gould and his wife have
been to Bermuda 12 times, and it is Gould’s 10th time teaching the
summer course at BIOS. Gould explained
that he loves the small class size and teaching at BIOS, “it is the perfect place to study marine
biology because of the temperatures and tropical habitat…most courses I teach
are big lecture courses so this is a real treat.” When I asked if some students changed their
minds about their career field as a result of coming to BIOS, Gould explained, “yes,
several students find their life passion.”
One student who was especially inspired by the course last summer, even came
back to be a teacher’s assistant (TA) for the course this summer.
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